1. Want to know why I get so frustrated with most (not all) trainers out there? Just the other day, we had a kid come in for an evaluation who mentioned to me that he has been working with another trainer for the past six months. You would think that after six months, he’d be able to perform one push-up with good form, right? You would also think that he’d have the kinesthetic awareness to be able to “find” what a neutral spine is supposed to feel like. Sadly, he couldn’t do either of the two. SIX MONTHS! Upon asking him what he and his previous trainer had been doing all this time, he said “you know, stuff like agility drills.” If more “trainers” spent more time working on the basics rather than trying to impress parents with smoke and mirrors (agility ladders, cone drills, etc), this kind of stuff wouldn’t be an issue.
2. I’d like to thank Karen Kent and Joey Taraborelli of +1 Fitness for inviting me out to Rhode Island last week to speak to their clients/members at AMGEN. I did a presentation titled De-Constructing Computer Guy: An Approach to Managing Muscle Imbalances in the Gym, where I discussed some basic programming strategies that your typical “computer guy” (or girl) should consider given the fact that they sit for a vast majority of the day. Some key points I hit on:
*You can spend one hour “fixing” things, but you still have 23 hours to mess it up again. Those other 23 hours are important. From a corrective exercise/postural standpoint, you have to be cognizant of what you’re doing outside of the gym as well. You know, like the fact that you’re reading this blog post with a forward head posture and a rounded back. Gotcha!
*Treadmills stink for this population. One of the keys to feeling better is increasing amplitude (range of motion). With jogging, there isn’t a lot of range of motion going on there (very little hip flexion or extension). Not to mention most people shouldn’t be jogging/running in the first place given the high impact load it places on their joints. Additionally, as I’ve stated before (and stealing from Mike Boyle), you need to get fit to run, not run to get fit.
*There’s a difference between what people want to do and what people need to do. Left on their own, people are going to do what’s “easy” and will rarely step out of their comfort zone. That said, what do most people do in the gym: bench press, lat pulldowns, crunches, use the selectorized machines, etc. All of which only exacerbate their already atrocious posture.
*You sit all day at work, why would you want to sit even more while training? Get off your ass!
Needless to say, it was an awesome experience and I received a lot of great feedback. And just an FYI, I’ll be doing an encore presentation tomorrow night at the local Borders using nothing but shadow puppets and my Lite Brite if anyone is interested.
3. Apparently the “fat loss” bug has hit CP and Eric, Kevin, and Danny are going to give Alwyn Cosgrove and Mike Roussell’s Warp Speed Fat Loss a go for the next month.
We “tweaked” the program slightly (lifting more heavy stuff, but the basic template/diet is still in tact) and are calling it Ludicrous Speed Fat Loss. Before pictures have been taken and I’ll definitely be updating their progress as the weeks pass.
4. On a completely non-fitness related issue: last weekend, I was given the opportunity to go listen to The Swell Season in concert at Agganis Arena at Boston University.
For those who aren’t familiar with The Swell Season, it’s an Irish folk band who’s two lead singers, Glen Hansard (of The Frames) and Marketa Irglova, were also the main characters in the movie Once(Side Note: awesome movie, even if it doesn’t have nudity. Also won Best Song at last year’s Oscars.) And yes people, even a man’s man such as myself, who eats beef jerky for breakfast and has a chest that is often mistaken for a steel plate can admit that he listens to folk music.
Point blank, the concert was amazing. Glen has been through some heartbreak in the past, and at the risk of sounding too personal, I could definitely relate to a lot of what he sang. One song in particular was “Happiness.” Before the song started, Glen mentioned that it was about “letting go of someone,” and that its main message was to “wish them well, send them good vibes, and be done with it.” Needless to say, it really hit home for me.
If you ever have the opportunity to see them in concert, it’s so worth it
